Scotland Yard Says No to Staged Sound System at UK Anti-Trump Protest

A request for a sound system and stage for the anti-US President Donald Trump protest in Britain has been refused by London's Metropolitan Police Service.

Scotland Yard has released a statement defending the decision to ban a stage mounted on a lorry at the protest. "As is usual, the Met asked the organizers for a crown management and safety plan which as organizers they have overarching responsibility for."

"On Monday, 9 July the Met received diagrams of where the vehicle was to be positioned, with no mention of sterwarding for this particular aspect of the event. This was not a formal notification of how crown safety would be managed."

"At the heart of our policing operation is the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest. However we equally have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the public and this current time we do not feel that the proposal from the organizers ensures safety of a crowded place.

Huge decision by @metpoliceuk — hope they have their ducks in a row as this sounds like it could breach right to free speech (Article 10 of the Human Rights Act) and right to free assembly (Article 11) https://t.co/i7gqBoTskD

Policing Donald Trump's visit is expected to cost £12 million (US$15 million) with leave cancelled for thousands of officers. Around 4,000 extra officers will be drafted into areas where the US President is visiting; it is the largest deployment of officers since the 2011 London riots.

Officers will be expected to work 12 hours shifts, leading to warnings of "unquestionable pressure" by The Police Federation on "a service already creaking at its knees."

"I, and my colleagues at the Federation, have been involved since Mr Trump confirmed his plans to visit, working to ensure that the welfare of our officers who will be working away from home, covering additional hours and over periods when they have had their days off cancelled; and that they are paid for what they do," Simon Kempton, the organization's deputy treasurer in England and Wales said in a statement.

Officers from different forces across England and Wales will be deployed in London on a Mutual Aid agreement, which according to Simon Kempton will leave forces as "a merely reactive service."

At the National #PoliceBravery Awards today with 2 brave @lincspolice officers and their partners. Could post pics of evening spent with them in the Tower of London(Ceremony of the Keys) but subdued when seeing pics of “accommodation” for cops away on mutual aid. Disgraceful pic.twitter.com/sYWzBw6Pld

"And we may struggle to even be that — and that is all before you throw into the mix that the Football World Cup is also happening over the same period." Kempton issues a stark warning that the army having to take up police positions could become a reality on Britain's streets.

This is how police officers are being forced to sleep for the arrival of the President Of the United States Donald Trump

This is the biggest police deployment since the London riots in 2011

Expexted to sleep in these conditions then complete three 12 hour shifts

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to resolve the accommodationissues for #police#officers working on the #trump visit. @EssexPoliceUK has nowapologised to officers and the gym will not be used again. All officers will beaccommodated elsewhere. #result

"Would we see the situation where the military were drafted in place of police officers? Green uniforms instead of the blue ones, people would — and should — expect to see? It's a worrying prospect," says Simon Kempton.

Donald Trump is expected to meet the Queen and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in London and visit Chequers, Windsor Castle, the US ambassador's official residence in Regent's Park and Scotland.

Hello,
!

We are committed to protecting your personal information and we have updated our Privacy Policy to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new EU regulation that went into effect on May 25, 2018.

Please review our Privacy Policy. It contains details about the types of data we collect, how we use it, and your data protection rights.

Since you already shared your personal data with us when you created your personal account, to continue using it, please check the box below:

I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of creating a personal account on this site, in compliance with the Privacy Policy.

If you do not want us to continue processing your data, please click here to delete your account.

promotes the use of narcotic / psychotropic substances, provides information on their production and use;

contains links to viruses and malicious software;

is part of an organized action involving large volumes of comments with identical or similar content ("flash mob");

“floods” the discussion thread with a large number of incoherent or irrelevant messages;

violates etiquette, exhibiting any form of aggressive, humiliating or abusive behavior ("trolling");

doesn’t follow standard rules of the English language, for example, is typed fully or mostly in capital letters or isn’t broken down into sentences.

The administration has the right to block a user’s access to the page or delete a user’s account without notice if the user is in violation of these rules or if behavior indicating said violation is detected.